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Monday, September 30, 2013

{DIY} Gold & Chalkboard Flower Pots

Back in May when we went to the UK, we had a cookout at our friends' flat. We used some fresh herbs they had growing out back, and I decided I finally needed to get around to planting my own. On my first shopping trip after we got home, I saw some herbs for sale in the grocery store and snatched up every single kind they had. The only problem: I didn't have confidence that I'd actually be able to keep them alive for more than, like, two weeks (plant serial killer - guilty!), so I bought the cheapest little terra cotta planters I could find. Shockingly, my herbs have actually lasted! Since it seems the herbs are here for the long term, I decided to give my basic pots an upgrade with chalkboard paint and gold Rub 'n Buff.

I should probably start this by stating the obvious here: it would be easier to paint the pots without plants in them! But since I wasn't about to try and transfer them, I just held the pots carefully and the plants really didn't get in the way. (Although my floppy cilantro was slightly annoying... but only slightly!). Here's what the pots looked like before (along with a photobombing kitty).

Chalkboard paint and Rub 'n Buff are two things I feel like I see everywhere (not necessarily together) and I always love the look of them, but somehow I was a complete newbie to working with both of these materials. Spoiler alert: they're both really easy to work with. No issues whatsoever.

I started by painting the bottom portion of the pots with chalkboard paint. I waited an hour for them to dry, then applied a second coat. The coverage actually looked good after 1 coat but the bottle stated that 2+ were recommended, so I did a second layer just in case.

After another hour of dry time, I applied the Rub 'n Buff around the rim (yep, I rub 'n buffed the rim - how dirty does that sound?). A little goes a long way, and it's very easy to apply with your fingers. One coat was all I needed.

I let the pots dry overnight, then conditioned the chalkboard paint by lightly rubbing the side of a stick of chalk all over the surface. After that, I wiped off the chalk then went ahead with writing on them. As you can see, I was super creative with the chalk (or not).

Now, let's just hope I didn't jinx myself! Fingers crossed that I can keep my herbs alive for a while longer!

Have you done any simple upgrades to stuff you have around the house lately?